Montreal, Homelessness and Gambling Addiction

Massachusetts Casino Proponents extol the virtues of Gambling's success in Canada to justify their support, even as Canada has removed loss limits and other sensible controls to maintain its flagging revenue source and cover escalating costs.

This summer, blessed with opportunities to do 'tourist' things, we encountered a number of Canadians who had nothing nice to say about the community degradation caused by 'government sponsored addiction,' the failure to fulfill the promises of 'economic development,' and the growing enslavement of people the Industry depends on for their profitability - the Gambling Addict.

Studies have linked HOMELESSNESS to Gambling Addiction. Our resident Addiction Expert will explain the connection of Gambling Addiction and incarceration.

We CAN do better!


The face of hardship in Montreal is getting younger

It's a good neighbourhood for pleading innocent and feeling guilty.

On a small patch of green space a couple blocks from the Palais de Justice, I was enjoying the Friday morning sun and tapping out a text message. Two benches over, a man wearing a coat too heavy for the weather was asleep, using a battered knapsack for a pillow.

Isn't progress wonderful?

There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when the clacking of typewriter keys made it impossible to sleep near a working journalist. Now I can write silently and transmit stories from anywhere.

But some things never change. People are still sleeping on park benches.

Punch up Matthew 26:11 on your Bible app. "For ye have the poor always with you," Jesus told his disciples.

Poverty is stubborn. It resists technological change, and if you're sufficiently engrossed in your newest tech toy, you can ignore people who don't have fixed addresses, let alone phone numbers.

I was down at the edge of Chinatown looking for a column. Every Monday into late December, this space will be pegged (as we used to say in the typewriter era) to the Gazette Christmas Fund.

In urging Montrealers to open their hearts and their chequebooks, I thought it might be useful to raise their awareness of poverty in this city. Matthew Pearce, director general of the Old Brewery Mission, is a good source for a snapshot of hard times in Montreal.

Pearce's office is at the northwest corner of St. Antoine St. and St. Lawrence Blvd., kitty-corner to the courthouse. Pearce pointed out the irony of a space that used to be a tavern becoming headquarters of a shelter that deals with the consequences of alcoholism -and much else.

He is 56 and has run the Old Brewery Mission for 21/2 years. Pearce was born in Calgary to expatriate Montrealers who moved back here in 1960 because "with the business savvy my family is famous for, my father saw no future in the oil business."

Pearce grew up in Rosemere. Fluently bilingual, he has a background in international development and the promotion of corporate responsibility.

Hardship in Montreal, Pearce said, is changing. He highlighted the surprising demographics of the Mission's clientele.

Fifteen years ago, the average age of a homeless person was about 55 -conforming, Pearce said, to stereotype. Today the average age is 37.

"To bring the average age down that quickly," Pearce said, "means a lot of young people are not able to find their place in society and don't have resources, like a supportive family, to fall back on. If you're on the streets at a young age and you don't get the support needed, you can become a chronic, self-identified street person."

Another change over the last 10 years: people are ending up at the Old Brewery Mission as a consequence of gambling addiction.

"This is not a drug addict or an alcoholic or a person who is mentally ill and off their meds," Pearce said. "We've had a police officer and a doctor whose lives collapsed because of gambling. They've burned their bridges and they come to us when they have nothing left."

-in the news

There are also more women needing shelter than there is space available. The Old Brewery Missions's women's service, the largest is Canada, is regularly over 100 per cent capacity. This winter, the Mission will add 14 beds to the 30 in its women's shelter.

Pearce said drug addiction has become more of a problem because of worse living through chemistry. Drugs are stronger, behaviour is more radically altered, addiction is deeper and harder to kick.

The Mission has a new mission, Pearce explained: "not just to soothe homelessness but to solve homelessness." On the floor above his office is the Marcelle and Jean Coutu Pavilion, where 30 men are living in apartments and going through the Old Brewery Mission's transition programs to get them back into society.

"They pay modest rent," Pearce said. "They make their meals and they live an autonomous life. But they benefit from the support of our counsellors.

"They don't need just a key to an apartment. They need support with the kind of issues that caused them to be homeless in the first place."

The economic downturn has not had a negative impact on donations. Pearce describes the Old Brewery Mission as a "Montreal institution, kind of like Schwartz's."

With healthier food. Montrealers, Pearce said, "like our institutions - they're part of our identity."

"Our donors are loyal," he added, "They see us as a place where you make a donation and it hits the ground running. There's not much waste around here."

As is the case with another great institution, the Gazette Christmas Fund. Every dollar donated is passed on to people in need.

And a survey of downtown park benches indicates the needy are still with us.